"The
President is excited to welcome Egyptian President al-Sisi to the White
House on April 3 and he wants to use the visit to reboot the bilateral
relationship and build on the strong connection the two presidents
established when they first met in New York last September," [photo above] a senior
Trump administration official told reporters.

Noting that Egypt is one of the traditional
pillars of stability in the Middle East and has been a reliable US
partner for decades, he said Trump's initial interactions with al-Sisi,
including their phone call on January 23, have already improved the tone
of the relationship.

The US wants to support President al-Sisi's efforts in all of these areas.

"Our
relationship has historically been driven by security and that will
remain a key component of the engagement with Egypt. The US and Egyptian
militaries have built close relationships and many military officers
from Egypt have trained at US military installations," he said.

Trump
supports al-Sisi's ambition to develop a comprehensive
counter-terrorism approach that involves military, political, economic,
as well as social efforts, the official said, adding that at the same
time, Trump also wants to increase the focus on economic and commercial
cooperation in bilateral relationship.

Building a more stable and productive economy is a critical step to ensuring long-term stability in Egypt, the official said.

The Egyptian President has begun a necessary economic reform plan
that would strengthen the Egyptian economy if it is fully executed, he
said....

"President Donald
Trump will seek to rebuild the U.S. relationship with Egypt at a Monday
meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi focused on security
issues and military aid, a senior White House official said on Friday.

"He
wants to use President Sisi's visit to reboot the bilateral
relationship and build on the strong connection the two presidents
established when they first met in New York last September," the
official said, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity.

Egypt has long been one of Washington's closest allies in the Middle East, receiving $1.3 billion in U.S. military aid annually.The country is fighting an Islamist insurgency in
Sinai, and hundreds of Egyptian soldiers and police have been killed
fighting insurgents.

Obama froze aid
to the country for two years after Sisi, then a general, overthrew
President Mohamed Mursi in mid-2013 after mass protests against Mursi's
rule. Mursi, a Muslim Brotherhood member, had been elected the previous
year....

Trump's
relationship with Sisi got off to a good start when they met last
September in New York while Trump was running for president, the White
House said.

He then said, "What part of Hillary
Clinton's message was aimed at less educated white voters? It just
wasn't at the core of her appeal this year. It was nothing like 2012,
when President Obama relentlessly focused on the middle class, Bain
Capital, the auto bailout, etc."

The recent speech wasn't Biden's first time speaking out about Clinton's campaign; last December, he told theLos Angeles Times
that he didn't think she ever figured out why she was running for
president other than, perhaps, out of a sense of duty to women."

[Ed. note: Rivera also had 42 post season "saves" over his 141 post season innings for an actual "all time saves" total of 694.
His 141 post season innings--against the toughest competitors and under the brightest lights--amount to an additional two years of relief
work at 70 innings per year, sandwiched within the calendar years of
his regular season stats but not mentioned in this article. It may be
technically correct per MLB rules to continue to omit Rivera's post
season work when reporting the "all time saves leader" stat, but why
would you want to? Why would you want to cheat anyone out of a vast body
of work? Why not at least change the name of the stat to something
other than "all time" since "regular season only" isn't "all time?"
Rivera pitched into November twice, 2001 and 2009.
Shorter off seasons meant less time recovering while other relievers
were sitting on the couch resting up to pad the next year's regular
season stats.]

(continuing): "was in Washington D.C.
for a listening session on Trump’s newly created opioid commission. New
Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a devoted Mets fan, is leading the group,
which was created to fight a growing opioid addiction problem in the
U.S.

Rivera is a philanthropist these days and leads the Mariano Rivera
Foundation, which supports community-based organizations. The group
specifically focuses on education, health and social and economic
development, according to its website, marianoriverafoundation.org. One of its biggest projects to date was renovating a church in New Rochelle, N.Y., in 2014.

“We could use you now,” Trump joked. “I think you’d make 100 million a year right now.”

That
brought a smile to Rivera’s face and laughs around the table. Trump
went on to reminisce about the times he spent with the team’s late
owner, George Steinbrenner, and how Rivera always delivered.

“He threw the heaviest pitch,” Trump said. “You made the ball like it weighed 30 pounds.” But…back to that $100 million deal.

Trump was kidding, we think, but who wouldn’t want to hear “Enter
Sandman” and see Rivera, who will turn (gulp) 48 in November, take those
first steps, do a quick skip at the warning track and trot to the mound
again? Never mind that Rivera, baseball’s all-time saves leader, pretty
much left it all on the field when he walked away in 2013. We can
dream."...

At the House Intelligence Committee hearing on March 20, FBI Director
Comey and NSA Director Michael Rogers firmly denied that their agencies had wiretapped Trump Towers on the orders of President Obama.

So, were Trump and his associates “wiretapped?” Of course not.
Wiretapping went out of vogue decades ago, having been rendered obsolete
by leaps in surveillance technology.

Allegations about the intelligence community’s abuse of its powers
also did not begin with Snowden. For instance, several years earlier,
former NSA worker and whistleblower Russell Tice warned about these
“special access programs,” citing first-hand knowledge, but his claims
were brushed aside as coming from a disgruntled employee with
psychological problems. His disclosures were soon forgotten.

At his evening meeting on March 21 at the Old Executive Office
Building, Nunes was likely informed that all telephones, emails, etc. –
including his own and Trump’s – are being monitored by what the Soviets
used to call“the organs of state security.”

But this episode was not the first time Nunes has shown some spine in
the face of what the Establishment wants ignored. In a move setting
this congressman apart from all his colleagues, Nunes had the courage to
host an award ceremony for one of his constituents, retired sailor and
member of the USS Liberty crew, Terry Halbardier.

On June 8, 1967, by repairing an antennae and thus enabling the USS
Liberty to issue an SOS, Halbardier prevented Israeli aircraft and
torpedo boats from sinking that Navy intelligence ship and ensuring that
there would be no survivors to describe how the Israeli “allies” had
strafed and bombed the ship. Still, 34 American seamen died and 171 were
wounded.

At the time of the award ceremony in 2009, Nunes said, “The
government has kept this quiet I think for too long, and I felt as my
constituent, he [Halbardier] needed to get recognized for the services
he made to his country.” (Ray McGovern took part in the ceremony in Nunes’s Visalia, California office.)

Comment: I share the authors' hope that Nunes and Trump don't do the usual fold. As to Nunes separately, he was given chairmanship of a committee, in this case the House Intelligence Committee, only because the Establishment believes he's on their side. You don't get those chairmanships otherwise. I gave up on Nunes after following him for several years. He sounded good at first then caved deeply for the Establishment.

"Throughout
Thursday the BBC is seeking to uncover what it’s like to live with war
as it reports onwhat’s going on in different parts of Syria – the news
which doesn't make the international headlines."